Sure, Denver’s one of the foremost craft-beer destinations in the nation, with a taproom of note on nearly every corner. But suds aren’t all it does well when it comes to booze. The city has a rich and varied bar scene, and it's worth taking note of it. In fact, we didn’t even include breweries in this list of the city's best watering holes, on the grounds that you can get a better overview of the Mile High drinking scene by visiting the bars that pour it all—from killer cocktails and au courant wines, as well as the world-class beers made right here that have made the area famous. So when it comes to our picks for Denver's best bars, we've got a mix designed to appeal to all tastes. Read on for it, but one final tip: Just remember to pace yourself if you're coming from sea level—altitude sickness and alcohol don't mix.

If atmosphere could make you tipsy, then you’d be feeling a buzz before you even took a seat, never mind touched a drop, in Bar Helix, Kendra Anderson’s RiNo lounge. With its bubble-patterned base and back panel mirrored like a disco ball, the bar alone glitters and pops like a glass of Champagne; entering the back room, dark and cozy in gold-flecked crimson, feels like being immersed inside a Negroni. Anderson and her bar team produce about 20 cocktails that, though seasonal, always rely on the element of surprise. At any given time, they’re featuring as many as five variants on the classic Negroni; a group of four guests can choose one for service in a crystal decanter. Not coincidentally, sparkling wine and amaro-splashed cocktails are key offerings. This place was built to make everybody feel comfortable—not to mention sexy—in their own skin.

If you’ve heard of exactly one drinking destination in Denver, it's probably Williams & Graham, which is located behind what appears to be world’s smallest bookstore. There isn’t a classic, on menu or off, that the bar can’t make or a special request it won’t entertain, so don’t hesitate to ask. But the heart of the list resides in the seasonal cocktails. The odder the concoction sounds, the more likely it is to blow your mind sky-high. So even if you're confused by the thought of sesame oil, sweet-potato syrup, or Jägermeister, give it a whirl.

The Cruise Room famously opened in the Oxford Hotel the day after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, and its Art Deco interior has been preserved down to the last detail. Decorative panels that depict toasting traditions around the globe grace the walls of the long, narrow room, which is lined with booths on one side and the bar on the other; the space is bathed in the mysterious glow of red neon enhanced by flickering candlelight. A vintage jukebox plays jazz and blues standards. Even the embossed-silver menu covers speak to a bygone era. The wine and beer selection’s perfectly adequate, but the old adage about Rome applies to The Cruise Room: when you’re here, you should do as the ghosts of bon vivants past did and sip a classic cocktail: a Sidecar, a Tom Collins, a Gimlet, or a gin Martini. There’s no moody little rendezvous quite like this one in Denver.

Located in an old two-story off Larimer Square, the decidedly unfancy Euclid Hall looks like your average tavern: brick walls, double-hung windows, lots of wood, a few mounted TVs. It also sounds like your average tavern, especially as the night wears on—the crowds as well as the playlist turn up to 11. But your average tavern isn’t owned by a James Beard Award–winning chef and thanks to Jennifer Jasinski and her powerhouse partner Beth Gruitch, you’ll drink and eat as though you’re anywhere but. Think of the beer list here as three-dimensional: deep, wide, and rotating. Local, national, and international. The menu fills the modern-gastropub mold—following the seasons right down to fairly sensible salads and seafood dishes while remaining grounded in unabashedly hearty tradition.

Death & Co, one of New York City’s most celebrated watering holes, has made its second home in Denver; specifically, in the lobby of The Ramble Hotel, which offers an appropriately grand backdrop for its arrival. Elaborate chandeliers hung from high ceilings multiply in the enormous arched mirrors behind the back bar. Sumptuously upholstered, well-apportioned sofas, banquettes, and armchairs fill the window-lined room. Upstairs, The Garden, a second-floor rooftop terrace, lush with foliage and criss-crossed with strung lights, offers views of downtown and a menu of its own. The city hasn’t seen anything quite like it. Locals are still feeling Death & Co out: Denver’s a staunchly casual town, and the idea that they’re supposed to fit in amid such opulence is only beginning to gel. But this is Denver’s gateway to glamour. Ease into a plush chair with a companion worth splurging on (be it a client or a date), watch the beautiful people go by, nurse something exquisite, and let yourself think the obvious: “I could get used to this.”

Reflecting its namesake—a type of maple tree—The Tatarian references the natural world in subtle, sophisticated flourishes: blue-green wallpaper, textured woods, and the drinks themselves. The cocktail list at this coolly contemporary Tennyson Street refuge isn’t designed to change often; when you see the menu, you’ll know why. Filled with color photographs and descriptions of the trees that inspired the drinks, it’s a work of art. Try the Golden Gate, a plush blend of amaretto, Fernet Branca, orgeat, and lemon juice topped with egg-white foam, topped, in turn, with droplets of bitters in the shape of a flower. The Tatarian does everything you like in a craft cocktail bar with one-tenth of the fuss. Put it on the to-do list that includes the sort of nice-and-easy tasks that make you feel like you’ve nailed the work-life balance.

Reservations aren't generally a requirement on the Denver drinking scene, but it’s a good idea if your heart’s set on admiring the view from this Union Station lounge. Located on the mezzanine overlooking the historic Great Hall in one direction and downtown through the towering windows in the other, the posh space exudes silver-screen glamour, with a marble-topped bar surrounded by cream-colored sofas and chair and a chandelier hanging like a full moon practically within reach. Even the signature creations dotting the list of about 20 cocktails show respect for the classics—no ingredients you’ve never heard of in combinations you can’t fathom, just high-quality booze, house syrups, and fresh juices and herbs. They’re presented beautifully, too, mostly in cut-crystal glasses on silver trays with small ramekins of mixed nuts. This is rarefied air, so come to breathe it with someone special.

At Family Jones Spirit House, the knockout decor makes for an auspicious date-night setting, but it's approachable enough to suit anyone. Charmingly presented in little photo albums with pictures of “the family,” the menu offers about 10 cocktails that highlight the house spirits with distinctly culinary verve. Produce, herbs, and spices add texture and zing to drinks like the creamy signature avocado-passionfruit daiquiri; the rum-based Heat of the Moment, savory with yellow bell-pepper juice, black-pepper syrup, and arbol-chile tincture; and the Thief in the Garden, bright with carrot, ginger, turmeric, and rye.

This Five Points outlier bills itself as the world’s first beer bar devoted entirely to sour and wild ales. No doubt that’s true, but it’s also irrelevant—what matters is that Goed Zuur, which is Dutch for “good acid,” does what it does so well. The four-page list includes an ever-changing selection of U.S. and international beers, about 25 on draft and around 70 in bottle. Different-sized pours by the glass encourage mixing and matching, comparing and contrasting; for instance, you could sample an oak-aged strawberry sour from Destihl alongside a strawberry gose from La Cumbre. Beer enthusiasts should put Goed Zuur on heavy rotation, and anyone who appreciates the finer things in life should consider joining them. Besides, inside every wine drinker is a sour-beer convert waiting to happen.

At greenlight LAB, a little hideaway in an alley right behind his office, the cocktails fall into two categories—Beta and Approved. The latter have tested their way onto the list for the time being: Check out that Sphere Today, Gone Tomorrow, essentially a Manhattan with the whiskey trapped inside a hollow ice globe until it’s broken. The Beta list, meanwhile, changes all the time. Take the “beer can drink," like strawberry- and dill-infused Cognac served in a can of amber ale. Neighboring businesses supply the snacks, namely charcuterie and cheese from Italian restaurant Il Posto with crackers from 34 Degrees, as well as desserts from Izzio in the Denver Central Market. It’s not necessary, but it’s a nice touch nonetheless.

At RiNo Yacht Club, the heart of The Source, an old iron foundry–turned–artisan marketplace, the slogan on the menu—“Yachty by nature"—tells you what you’re in for: one seriously playful experience. Your cocktail is bound to contain some ingredients you’ve never heard of and perhaps have never seen in a drink—like, say, kümmel, a caraway liqueur, or woodruff-infused May wine. And oat milk. And long peppers. And goat cheese. Don’t sweat it: it’ll all make sense when you taste it. Come on the early side and try something light and refreshing; head to dinner at one of The Source’s five restaurants; then return when the lights are turned down and the crowd’s turned up for something heavier-hitting. To use RiNo Yacht Club’s other motto: “Seize the day, cap the night.”

The first thing you need to know about Retrograde is, well, that you need to know about it: Located without signage behind the freezer door of an ice-cream parlor, with a light switch you have to flip to gain entrance, it’s not a place you simply stumbleupon. The second thing you need to know about Retrograde is that it’s positively kooky, with major outer-spacey vibes. With room for a few-dozen people, tops, it’s designed to ensure you have a highly personalized experience. The concept itself precludes session drinking; nobody’s here to nurse a lawnmower beer. Retrograde’s intimate size and scope, meanwhile, keep the hell-raising hordes at bay. Seven or eight wines and just as many craft beers are listed by style rather than brand or region, ensuring that you’re getting what you want, whether or not you know exactly what it is—a pilsner or a lager, a sour or a gose, a full-bodied dry white or a light and smooth red. But seasonal cocktails command the spotlight. About 10 in all, they’re named according to a pop-cultural theme in keeping with the overall sci-fi motif.

Union Lodge is a barroom through and through—snug and simply decorated, with wood floors and wood furnishings, a black banquette near the window, and a few flickering candles. The American flag on the old brick wall dates back to the late 19th century—sometime after Colorado joined the Union and before the Dakotas did—and this downtown lair honors that history with its focus on pre-Prohibition cocktails. All the better to showcase the flames that shoot through the air when somebody orders a Red, White, & Blue Blazer—rest assured somebody’s always ordering a Blazer.

Think of this nonstop party as one-quarter quaint, cozy cantina, three-quarters raucous Caribbean beach shack. Now think of it one-third beer bar, one-third cocktail lounge, and one-third food-truck pod. Mathematically, it doesn’t add up, but in RiNo, Finn’s Manor amounts to much more than the sum of its disparate parts. The bar itself occupies a tiny old brick-walled house, filled to the rafters with folk art and bric-a-brac—old lampshades, Mardi Gras beads, inexplicable tufts of dried moss. The aromas of varied cooking mingle with the occasional sounds of live musicians or DJs. In addition to elaborate punches, the bartenders here make about 20 specialty cocktails to showcase the bar's inventory of hundreds of different spirits. Try the Gunboat Diplomacy, with rye, chrysanthemum-honey and pine-nut liqueur, and tea syrup, or a star anise–garnished Travis Went to Tunisia, with vodka, pear liqueur, persimmon-lavender shrub, and date syrup. They’re also pouring cool ciders and wines.

At Green Russell, a throwback to the speakeasy era, there are several themed flights of, say, Sherry cask–finished Scotch or whiskeys from unexpected places like India and Austria. There are also a dozen seasonal cocktails. Maybe you’ll try a Spellbound, with honey butter–infused cachaça, pear brandy and liqueur, and hints of vanilla one visit; a velvety Banana Suit, with rum, rye, banana liqueur, and Italian vermouth the next. Once you’re convinced the team has got what it takes, go with the bartender’s choice. One of the rules here is “Relax, sit down"—a polite way of saying that the staff doesn’t tolerate the rowdy, beer-guzzling hordes that run rampant through so many LoDo bars.